Acts of Kindness
by Steph7085
Summary: Just a little scene between the two leading ladies of the show. It would have been nice to see a bit more friendship building between them.


Not only is Hannah554 trying to smash through my writers block, she's putting me outside my comfort zone as well - evil, evil woman, lol - by making me write for fandom's I haven't touched before, and characters I don't even like all that much (Sara). Am I nervous? Hell yes! Anyway, my first ever CSI Vegas fic. Bring on the flames!!! Lol! (Be gentle, I'm fragile :p)

**The Challenge**

Use the following:

Words: pole, halo, stalker, explosion, generate.

Characters: Catherine Willows, Sara Sidle.

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Acts of Kindness

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Catherine hastily walked passed the main staff room, her expression weary and beyond exhausted. It was one hell of a case; murder and an explosion all rolled into one, and it seemed to be getting larger the further she went into it. It didn't help that the media were all over it as well - all they did was generate more buzz and make her job a hell of a lot harder.

Spying the locker rooms ahead, she picked up her pace giving a small smile to Warrick as he looked up from the game he was playing with Nick; Halo or something like that. She shook her head slightly, still thinking putting a console in there was a bad idea, and envying the fact that they had an easy, simple stalker case to deal with.

Not that she would trade with them at all. She loved puzzles, and as far as she was concerned this was a big one, one that she couldn't give up even if her eyes were starting to droop and her vision became blurred from lack of sleep. She just wished she had a bit more energy to deal with it.

Walking through the door, she quickly made her way to one of the benches and sank down onto it, giving out a sigh of relief. All she needed was a moment of peace, then she could get on with her job and hopefully not miss too much time with Lindsay.

The door swung open.

"Oh…hey," Sara greeted, walking towards her own locker and opening it. When Catherine didn't respond she glanced over her shoulder and finally took in her wiped-out appearance. "One hell of a case huh."

"Oh yeah," Catherine agreed, watching as Sara came and sat next to her.

"Where's Grissom?" the younger woman questioned, no doubt knowing that they were working together on the case. Catherine stood up, stretched her back and went to her locker.

"Oh, you know Grissom, he found a lead and followed it…" Catherine began.

"…and left you to deal with the press," Sara finished for her. The two woman shared an exasperated smile at their bosses behaviour.

"You got it," Catherine laughed with a shake of her head before she started riffling through her locker. Sara stood and went back over to hers.

"How'd your case go?" Catherine asked, breaking the silence that had befallen the locker room.

"Good…cracked it an hour ago. Turns out the murder weapon was a pole." Catherine froze and craned her neck to meet the other woman's gaze.

"As in the actual…" she gestured helplessly with her hands, remembering full well that Sara's murder case happened in a strip club.

"Oh yeah…they'd pulled it out somehow, used it to kill the victim and then stuck it back up."

"Wow…" Catherine muttered. It was kind of amazing how she could still be surprised by stuff after all the years she had spent in the business. Sara opened her mouth to respond but was cut off by Catherine's cell.

Catherine answered immediately, "Hello…hi baby. Oh that's great sweetheart. No…I don't know if I can make it home tonight. I'll try and be there in the morning though, before you go to school…Yes I know I said that yesterday, but Mom's been really busy… Night Lindsay."

Catherine sighed and rubbed at her forehead, staring sadly at her cell before placing it back in her pocket.

"Well…I suppose I better get back to work," she stated pointlessly as she turned to head towards the door.

"Catherine wait," Sara called out, taking a step towards the other woman. Catherine stopped and looked back at her. "Look, my case is over now. I could help out on yours, let you go home and get some rest."

"Thanks for offering, but it's fine," Catherine replied stubbornly.

"You've already pulled a double, your exhausted." Sara added, being just as stubborn. "Let me help, I promise as soon as anything interesting happens I'll let you know."

"Look I really appreciate it, but…" Catherine tried, but was cut off.

"I could always phone Grissom," Sara threatened, giving her a wide eyed innocent look. "You know he'll agree."

Catherine glared in annoyance, before her mouth twitched slightly. "Well played."

"I try," Sara replied with a shrug, turning back to her own locker and closing it.

Catherine marched back to her locker and grabbed everything she needed. She was halfway out of the door, but froze and turned back.

"Thanks Sara," she stated, moving further out into the corridor. "I owe you one."

"No problem."

Catherine smiled and headed home.

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I realise the pole bit may seem kinda 'out there' but I'm the author damn it and I'm allowed creative license...besides, stranger things have happened, lol! :p


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